Thursday, February 9, 2017

It’s well past time to ask “Is Trump Nuts?”

Because
so many of his executive actions and remarks on Twitter and in interviews seem
rash, commentators, including psychiatrists and psychologists are raising
questions about the stability of President Donald J. Trump’s mind.

Reportedly,
there is a good fit with Trump’s personality characteristics and the DSM-5’s
(Diagnosis and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) diagnosis of Narcissistic Personality Disorder.

Characteristics
of this trait include a desire for unwarranted admiration, obsession with one’s
own success and accomplishments, and a sense of entitlement. Certainly,
these traits can be said to apply, even just based on Trump’s speeches alone.

But another, more serious diagnosis
might also be worth a look. This is Antisocial
Personality Disorder, a diagnosis assigned to individuals who
habitually violate the rights of others without remorse.

Psychopathy
is an earlier term that was used for the same personality traits. Like
Narcissistic Personality Disorder, the antisocial disorder is a personality
disorder, which denotes an enduring pattern of behavior or mindset that
deviates markedly from the expectations of the individual's culture.

Both
the Narcissistic and Antisocial Disorders are associated with males more than
females.

Although
the latter disorder is prevalent among the male prison population, it is also
found among people in the general population by persons who have avoided
prosecution.

They
are prone, however, to get into trouble, for example, through violent
relationships or as a result of shady business practices. Let us review the DSM
criteria in light of our president’s actions and statements.

Disregard for others' needs
or feelings

Throughout the debates, candidate Trump
lashed out with highly personal insults, such as “crooked Hillary”, “lying
Ted,” and “Little Marco.”

He
famously mocked a reporter who had a physical disability and implied that a
female reporter was bleeding somewhere.

Reports
of Trump’s groping of women’s bodies have been highly publicized.

Persistent lying, stealing,
using aliases, conning others

A few examples of Trump’s persistent
lying are his continuous accusations that President Obama was not born in
America, his claim that he couldn’t release his tax records because they were
under audit, his misrepresentation of the size of his crowd at the
inauguration, and his statements on voter fraud that were without foundation.

A
new term “alternative facts” has been introduced to describe his claims.

There
have been reports from Trump’s earlier business life that he did indeed use an
alias in phone calls and that many of his business practices were unethical.

Recurring problems with the
law

Because of his vast wealth, so far,
President Trump has managed to pay off individuals and companies that have
filed lawsuits. Numerous reports of sexual harassment surfaced during Trump’s
presidential campaign.

Repeated violation of the
rights of others

The sexual harassment complaints and the
released tape of Trump’s bragging that he could get away with groping women’s
bodies because of his celebrity status are relevant here.

Aggressive, often violent
behavior

See above. In addition, Trump’s
biography reveals that he was sent to a tough military academy due to a pattern
of aggressive and bullying behavior as a boy.

Today,
Trump’s repeated remarks in favor of using torture as an interrogation
procedure are reflective of his mind set.

His
expressed willingness to kill and even target family members of terrorists
would be considered extreme even in military circles.

Disregard for the safety of
self or others

Executive orders banning refugees from
entering America, and his callous statements concerning their well-being and
even risks to their lives if deported show a disregard for human life and
safety.

Impulsive behavior

The rash acts emerging from the White
House have been criticized by members of Congress and have led to confusion
within government circles.

Consistently irresponsible

Some of Trump’s personal attacks on
others—both political rivals and foreign leaders—are indicative of both
impulsiveness and irresponsibility. Denial of the need to prevent global
warming can be considered as an attitude that borders on the irresponsible as
well.

Lack of remorse for
behavior

No signs of remorse have been expressed.
Nor is there any evidence of a sense of embarrassment when Trump’s lies have
been exposed through media investigations.

Readers can form their own conclusions
to what extent the diagnosis of Antisocial Personality Disorder applies to
President Trump.

And
one can only fear for the fate of America and for the world to the extent that
even some of these personality characteristics apply.

Katherine Van Wormer, PhD, MSSW, is Professor of
Social Work at the University of Northern Iowa and is the author of 15 books in
the fields of women and criminal justice, addictions treatment, social welfare
in a global perspective, and confronting oppression.

Thought for the day

Nothing funny about tired Saturday Night Live on Fake News NBC! Question is, how do the Networks get away with these total Republican hit jobs without retribution? Likewise for many other shows? Very unfair and should be looked into. This is the real Collusion!

Individual One’s tweet at 4:52 AM - 17 Feb 2019 after a long, hard day of playing golf at Mar-A-Lago on Day Two of our “national emergency.”

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